The sun was bright, but left only
faint warmth. Its normal promise felt hollow, and reflected on the
world its cool discontent. The very air had a strange feel, not lazy
in a relaxed way, almost fatigued. It reflected on the ever present
watcher of the valley pass, as Cloud gazed over the lower regions
from her home. A long, mournful sigh escaped her jaws as she watched
with keen eyes the workings of the humans below. They had grown so
much in so little time, how long had she watched them, hunte

To a child of the Drachenpass, a
dragon was just a part of life. Oh, every child in Phoenix’s rise
knew dragons were dangerous, almost all would know someone who just
didn’t return after leaving the safety of the town. Yet, almost all
the children observed the dragon with awe, how could they not?
In their childish innocence they all
underestimated the danger the dragon truly posed to them, as children
do they had an unyielding fascination with massive animals. Though,
as the days passed, one

Daniel sighed as he stood on the
high rocky outcrop, a faint wind brushing his face with gentle
fingers. The lush valley of his home, the village turned town seeming
so out of place against the greenery of the mountain pass.
The Drachenpass had changed so much
since he had been a child, troubles, worries and death had shaped
around his life. He had never suspected in the entirety of his life
that he would be standing on the edge of a dragon’s home, and feel
safe.
Soft, bubbly laughter echoed f

Only a couple of days had passed
since the town had been attacked by the sinister Storm. The people
still flinched when his wings cut the sky above, expecting him to
swoop down on them any moment. Even Daniel eyed the skies nervously
when Storm was hunting, though so far he hadn’t eaten anyone.
Despite Cloud’s brother living with her, Daniel had been making
sure to visit often, if only to reassure her that Storm was behaving.
The dark dragon’s eyes unnerved Daniel, they followed him
unyiel

A year had passed since the western
blockade was constructed. The kingdom west of the Drachenpass had
been driving out the bandit group that had risen in the famine that
struck the world not so long ago.
Their main base was within the
lethal Drachenpass Mountains, forcing them back only resulted in
troubles for the newly named Phoenix rise. The dragon that lived
above their town had made short work of bandits that came within her
territory, but she was a fair hunter, the townsfolk fed her hunger

It was a bright day, embracing
warmth flowed though Drachenpass on that sleepy morning. A light
cooling wind blew from east to west through the pass, cooling the
town nicely. It was a good day.
Daniel positively danced around his
house as he gathered his things for the day, swooping over to grab
his notebook, leaping back as he remembered his keys. His neighbours
glanced at him through his window as they left their home, the
children laughed at his funny movements, their father wondered if
Dani

Drachenpass
had never been a place to draw attention, most who saw it and left
tried to forget the little village that stood as a rock against the
storm of vicious predatory dragons that called those hills home. The
mountain range was a place every human had heard of, even those who
lived on the far eastern coast. Yet despite the infamy, most
considered it best to simply ignore the place. Despite their
hardship, the people of the village liked things that way, they would
trade with those that pa

In
the blackened eastern edge of Drachenpass village two youths fought,
one other stood over, standing helpless as his friends attacked each
other, though he held fear for only one.
That
area of the village had been scorched by dragon fire long ago, one of
the younger dragons of the mountains had gotten a cold, the accident
had long been forgiven but the area was a reminder of how dangerous
dragons were. Those scorched regions were strictly off limits, if
nothing else the ruins were unstable. Of

The
morning sun shone down on the sleepy mountain town, nestled in the
Drachenpass Mountains. The only movement under the half-light was a
small figure working its way up towards the summit. Drachenpass peak
was the highest point of a long wall of mountains that cut the known
world in half; it was renowned for its more ominous residents. The
village was rarely visited despite the fact that it was the half way
point on the only safe path through the deathly hills. No matter how
safe the village w